Diary of an Arcade Employee

Did Anybody Dig Dazzler?

I was a full-on Marvel fanboy in the mid-80s. I delighted in the 25th Anniversary, the Secret Wars II crossover, and the New Universe. I had drunk so much of the Kool-Aid that I even liked Dazzler.
The Jem of the Marvel Universe, Dazzler was mutant who had the ability to project light. Somehow this led to her being a pop star. I think she also fought super-villains, but I’m not exactly sure. Like so many Marvel properties of that day, Dazzler, though relatively new, had an extensive backstory spread across many different comics and issues, and I, relatively poor, could not get my hands on those comics and issues, so I didn’t fully understand what she was all about. But she was an active part of the Marvel U, interacting with many of Marvel’s top-level heroes.
Eventually, the Marvel Kool-Aid wore off and Dazzler started to look lame. “She makes light? Really? That’s not cool,” a twelve-year-old me began to say. She did have one encounter, though, that I still thought was pretty cool. She met Cloak sans Dagger. Cloak was hungry and needed light to feed on, so Dazzler blasted him with all she had.
Other than that, I was never real impressed with Dazzler. I’d really say that I don’t dig her. However, she was part of that era of Marvel’s history, which makes her hard to completely dismiss, so I guess I do dig her after all.